Setting up a VPN connection to FRITZ!Box in Linux

With the VPNC plugin for the Gnome NetworkManager you can establish a secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection over the Internet from a Linux computer to your FRITZ!Box and then access all of the network devices and services in the FRITZ!Box home network.

The VPNC plugin is free of charge for Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, and other Linux distributions.

Example values used in this guide

In this guide we show you how to connect a computer with Ubuntu 14.04 to the FRITZ!Box over VPN. When you set up your connection, replace the values used in this example with actual ones.

MyFRITZ! domain name of the FRITZ!Box:pi80ewgfi72d2os42.myfritz.net

User name of the FRITZ!Box user:John Smith

Password of the FRITZ!Box user:secret

Shared secret of the FRITZ!Box user:Zj7hPCouK65IrPU4

Requirements / Restrictions

The packages vpnc, network-manager-vpnc and network-manager-vpnc-gnome are installed on the computer.

Note:You can install the packages in Ubuntu as follows:sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc

Important:The FRITZ!Box is not accessible from the Internet over IPv4 when used on a DS-Lite ("Dual-Stack Lite") connection. When DS-Lite is active, the status "IPv4 over DS Lite" is displayed under "Connections" on the "Overview" page of the FRITZ!Box user interface.

Important:Some of the settings described here are only displayed if the advanced view is enabled in the user interface. The configuration procedure and notes on functions given in this guide refer to the latest FRITZ!OS.

1 Preparations

Setting up MyFRITZ!

With MyFRITZ! you can even access your FRITZ!Box over the Internet at all times if its public IP address changes on a regular basis, for example after being automatically disconnected by your Internet service provider:

Note:If you already use a different dynamic DNS service, you can also use this service instead of MyFRITZ!.

Adjusting the FRITZ!Box's IP network

VPN communication cannot occur if the computer has an IP address from the IP network of the FRITZ!Box. This is the case, for example, when the computer is also connected to a FRITZ!Box and the IP settings of the FRITZ!Boxes were not changed (IP address 192.168.178.1 in the factory settings). Therefore, adjust the IP network of the FRITZ!Box:

Example:In this guide, the FRITZ!Box has the IP address 192.168.10.1 (subnet mask 255.255.255.0).

2 Setting up a VPN connection in the FRITZ!Box

Click the (Edit) button for the user who intends to connect to the FRITZ!Box via VPN,

or, if you have not configured any users yet:

Click the "Add User" button and enter a name and password of your choice for the user in the corresponding fields.

Enable the option "VPN".

Click "OK" to save the settings.

Now the FRITZ!Box sets up the VPN rights for this FRITZ!Box user.A window displaying the VPN settings for the FRITZ!Box user will then open automatically.

Note:You can call up the window any time by clicking "Show VPN Settings" in the settings for the FRITZ!Box user.

3 Setting up and establishing a VPN connection on the computer

Set up the VPN connection on the computer using the VPN settings displayed in the FRITZ!Box user interface for the FRITZ!Box user:

Note:You can access the VPN settings if you select "System > FRITZ!Box Users" in the user interface, call up the settings for the user, and click "Show VPN Settings".

Open the "System Settings" menu.

Click "Network" in the "System Settings" menu.

Click the plus sign below the list with the existing connections.

Select "VPN" from the drop-down list "Interface" and then click "Create".

In the "Choose a VPN Connection Type" window, select the entry "Cisco Compatible VPN (vpnc)" and then click "Create".

The window "Editing VPN connection 1" opens.

Enter a name of your choice (FRITZ!Box-VPN) in the "Connection name" field.

Enter the MyFRITZ! domain name of the FRITZ!Box (pi80ewgfi72d2os42.myfritz.net) in the "Gateway" field.

Enter the user name of the FRITZ!Box user (John Smith) in the field "Username".

Select the entry "Saved" from the drop-down list next to the "User password" field and enter the password for the FRITZ!Box user (secret) in the field.

Enter the user name of the FRITZ!Box user (John Smith) in the "Group name" field.

Select "Saved" from the drop-down list next to the "Group password" field and enter the "shared secret" of the FRITZ!Box user (Zj7hPCouK65IrPU4) in the field. The "shared secret" is displayed in the VPN settings of the FRITZ!Box user in the section "iPhone, iPad or iPod touch".

Click the "Save" button to complete the configuration.

Click on the on/off slider for the VPN connection to establish the connection.